Conventional manual video equipment pedestals include pedestals that are rotated and/or moved around a floor or other support surface by an operator. For example, a video camera operator might use a steering ring that is mounted to the pedestal, to push against the natural inertia and friction that the pedestal provides. A pan/tilt head or equipment that is mounted to a pedestal could provide additional manual controls, such as bars for controlling video camera pan and tilt.
A video equipment pedestal could provide mechanically assisted operation, by using pressurized gas struts that are pressurized to counteract gravity. With no force applied, a pedestal column to which a payload and possibly an equipment pan/tilt head are mounted, for example, remains at the same height and does not rise or lower. Elevation of such a pedestal column could then be changed by applying forces that are significantly lower than would otherwise be required to raise the column and payload. Raising or lowering forces could be applied to a steering ring or to another part of a pedestal or payload to control elevation.
Full robotic control is also available for some pedestals. In one conventional implementation of robotic control, a joystick is provided in a control device that is mounted to a pan/tilt bar, for controlling rotation and movement of the pedestal and raising and lowering of the pedestal column.
Also, in a typical video equipment deployment, separate and different types of controls or devices are provided to control different aspects of video equipment operation, such as pedestal motion and video equipment functions.